Is Your Family Prepared for an Emergency?

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Hi Team! I am stoked to share the below post with you today! This one is all about how to best prepare your family in case of an emergency and it comes to us courtesy of Othala Fehu:

Two government lawyers with 2 kids, rolling towards FIRE (Financial Independence / Retire Early). The only pagan Net Worth Blog around, I think. I also delve into Prepping and Precious Metals because I am otherwise worried I would become too popular.

I have been asked several times now to provide a piece on prepping in relation to personal finance blogs. For me, I am always glad to provide the piece. There is no reason these two passions are not linked more often. I find many of the same traits abound in each niche; Frugality, Minimalism, Self-Reliance, and Independence. It’s hard to gauge just where I should start a post about different concepts and ideas in the prepping realm. The spectrum of immersion is very broad indeed. I will give you an example of two very different prepping tidbits;

Stage #1; You should carry a disposable lighter in your car, even if you don’t smoke. Never know when it might come in handy.

As opposed to a more ‘advanced stage’ somewhere down the line.

Stage #713; Grease up the barrel of your gun for long-term storage, seal it into a length of PCP sewer pipe. Bury this length of pipe vertically in the yard. Make sure to leave a foot of dirt or so on top. Spread some old metal nails and screws around 3 inches under the same dirt over top of your pipe/rifle. This way a metal detector and some light digging around will only reveal the presence of some old junk instead of your firearms cache.

The following is an attempt to categorize some of the different notions in prepping, with some concrete examples.

Go Bag; This is a small/medium bag that you can grab and go with. It has essentials but only the most common ones. Satchel, small backpack, even a large handbag. This is for, “it’s probably no big deal, but just in case”.

Mine has the following items; a bottle of water, a granola bar, a goodly length of not quite rope (think twine), a good folding knife, 2 LED flashlights (one medium, one penlight), bandanna, folded up poncho, 2 plastic lighters, wet wipes, chapstick, small pad and pencil, sunglasses, some zip ties, small Ziploc baggies, and another good knife.

Bug-Out-Bag; This is your life in a box. A largely framed backpack or similar setup. You grab it because you know you have to leave and ‘bug out’. It carries almost everything you can think of and still reasonably carry. On the road, or at your next location, you should now have with you all the basics to get by. If you are looking for a comprehensive list of what goes into a BOB, look no further.

Although if you asked 100 people what goes into a good Bug-Out-Bag, we would get 99 answers.

Travel Kit; Plenty of your life is spent traveling from one location to another. It is probably not OK to keep a Go Bag at your work, or at your in-laws, so keep one in your car. A Travel Kit can come in handy even during a mundane ‘car broke down/flat tire’ scenario. There is space in the trunk, why not use some of it.

Many of the same things as your Go-Bag, but more car-oriented; think flares, phone chargers, map, jumper cables, light jacket, hat, garbage bags, towel, old phone.

Plan B Stash; If you happen to have a secondary location that you spend considerable time at, leave some gear there. If you workplace/office would be OK with it, keep some versatile items there.

Scattered throughout the House; I keep a smattering of things throughout the house, because you never know where you will be when something happens. Here is what I mean. I keep some type of flashlight on each level of my house. Trying to make it to the hardware drawer in the kitchen from the upstairs bedroom during a power failure is a PLANNING FAILURE. I also keep common tools, like one of each type of screwdriver on each floor of the house (3 floors). This is way more convenient than running around trying to fix things that break in the heat of the moment.

In the Bedroom; Regardless of your position of firearms in a house, you should keep some sort of weapon in your bedroom. If any of you have ever had someone knock/ring your doorbell at 3:00AM, you know you were startled. The weapon should be readily accessible and practical for its purpose (self-defense).

Hidey-Hole; My young children can wiggle to the back of the closet under the stairs in the basement. I would not be able to find them there. If they ever needed to hide there for a real reason beyond hide-n-seek, why not provision it? Their little nest has a few bottles of water, a whistle, some snack bars and a blanket.

There are many levels you can prep for. Some ideas are a bridge too far, but many make sense. Why not incorporate into your life some of the ideas that make sense to you?

You might just need it someday 🙂

Reader’s Input

I don’t know about you but I’m underprepared! What have you done to prepare your family for an emergency situation? Any of the above or maybe some things that weren’t covered. Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

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– Mike

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2 Comments

I remember as a teenager and into adulthood my father telling me to always carry these things in my trunk. I shrugged it off, it took some years of maturity to realize these are great tips,it’s always better to be prepared. Thanks for the post Mike, great reminder.

Angela – I’m in the same boat as you… I was given that same advice as a youngster but didn’t really take it to heart. Nowadays, I always keep my boots, a knife, and some water in my trunk… Just never know when you might need it. And if that time comes, I’d rather have it than not. Glad you took something from this one too!

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Hi, Team!

I’m Mike – current 30-ish CEO, Blogger, and Forensic Scientist. I write Financial insights for Family & Business, and Fitness tips for all! We’re growing our family-owned Business while I’m focusing on staying Fit and being a solid Family man… and writing about all the highs and lows on MikedUp Blog! Please subscribe (below) to my FREE Newsletter to share in the journey!

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